The Nature of Family Meals: A New Vision of Families of Children with Autism

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 49; no. 2; pp. 441 - 452
• Main Authors: Curtiss, Sarah L., Ebata, Aaron T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2019; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Autism; Autistic children; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Children; Diet; Eating Habits; Families & family life; Family Environment; Family Life; Family meals; Family Relationship; Health aspects; Homework; Housework; Interpersonal Communication; Meals; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Parent-child relations; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Psychology; Public Health; Resilience; Resilience (Psychology); Schools; Autism spectrum disorders; Family processes; Mealtimes; Picky eating; Resilience
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3720-9

Families with children on the autism spectrum are often viewed in terms of their deficits rather than their strengths. Family meals are portrayed as sources of stress and struggle for parents and children. In this study, we take a resilience perspective to challenge underlying assumptions and get a more accurate picture of the nature of shared family meals. In-depth interviews were conducted and mealtimes were video recorded with 16 families for this thematic analysis. We identified four themes as being particularly salient to the mealtime experience: (1) schools and homework, (2) managing eating, (3) chores, and (4) intimate conversations. Our results elucidate the context of mealtimes as a site where parents struggle, yet negotiate, the challenges of everyday family life.